Connection issue between iPad and Mac

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Level 1

5 points

Connection issue between iPad and Mac

iPad connection to Mac. Had trouble with this in the past and fixed it by force-quitting the Finder. Now it's acting the same way again. Everytime the iPad loads an update, but doesn't continue with the update because not enough battery, I can no longer connect it to my Mac whether with a cable or wirelessly. This so frustrates me because I didn't know it needed an update and am now at work waiting for it to "update" and running late because I need the two to exchange a Filemaker document which I can't load into iPad without them "seeing" each other. Why Apple, why is a cable not able to communicate between the two if it needs an update when it worked fine before recognizing the new update?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Ipad cabled to Mac

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Feb 1, 2026 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,966 points

Feb 1, 2026 8:43 AM in response to Jeff Bills

Your connecting cable might not, of itself, be the source of difficulty.

Your iPad battery must be charged to at least 50% - or must be connected to an adequately powerful source of external power - to perform a system software update. As described, the USB port of your Mac computer is unable to source adequate power to charge and/or power the iPad during its update.

If you have connected your iPad to a computer's USB Type-A port, iPad charging will be limited to 12W (i.e. 2.4A @5V) - this being barely adequate to reliably charge the majority of modern iPad models.

If your Mac has an available USB-C, this may be able to provide more power to the iPad - and permitting the iPad to charge and/or perform a system software update while connected to the computer.

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Answer 2

Jeff Bills Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 1, 2026 9:00 AM in response to LotusPilot

Yeah, neither cable or wireless is recognized. iPad is now fully charged. It wouldn't update last night because it wasn't full charged. Restarted/shut-down/restarted both Mac and iPad. Mac is fully charged too. Both connected to originally supplied power sources. Even changed cables. This has been going for years. The Force Quite Finder worked for the last couple but not today. And they are connected to each other with originally supplied cables.

I have two Macs that both have pending updates and they communicate/exchange files/etc with no problem WITHOUT having to finalize the update, lol!

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Answer 3

Jeff Bills Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 2, 2026 8:04 AM in response to Jeff Bills

I can not connect the iPad to the Mac BEFORE the update. The update loaded but did not install, then I merely attempted to connect via cable and wireless. No connection. This has happened to me more than once. Is there something the iOS device changes upon loading the update that hinders connection? Like I stated (above/below?), I have pending updates on two Macs and they continue to communicate with each other

[Edited by Moderator]

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